[Reblog] How to find good vaccine information online

Although a number of my posts voice my concerns about “Big Pharm”, I still get an annual flu shot and keep up with vaccines.
Why? Overall I believe they are good public health measures. Still believe in herd immunity and my responsibility to others.

From the 14 November 2013 post by at KevinMD.com 
(Please read the comments also for good additional information.)

Dr. Google, you’ve let a whole lot of people down.

If you Google a vaccine question, and many parents have, you’re very likely to find a good, science-based answer — but it will be buried among dozens of sites with anti-science, pro-disease propaganda. The mountain of misinformation is staggering, with multiple anti-vaccine sites repeating each other in a seemingly endless loop of worry and dread. Let neither facts nor truth nor glimmer of honesty stay them from the swift completion of their self-appointed fear mongering rounds.

 

Fortunately, there are ways to make sure you’re getting reliable answers to your questions.

Start with the CDC’s vaccine home page, which leads to comprehensive information about just about any vaccine health topic.

Prefer an academic center over a government site? The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (perhaps the best children’s medical center in the world) has their own very comprehensive vaccine site, and even their own vaccine information app.

Looking for a more global view? Try the World Health Organization’s vaccine page.

Willing to put up with a little snark? Several good science bloggers frequently discuss vaccine topics, no holds barred, and end up with some robust back-and-forth in the comments. Try Respectful Insolence, The Skeptical Raptor, or Neurologica.

Finally, if what you’d like is a meta-search that looks at only the best vaccine information sources, and weeds out the crap, try this science based vaccine search engine.

Parents don’t have the time to wade through the idiocy — they want real, genuine information to help make decisions. Google won’t do that for you, but these links will.

Roy Benaroch is a pediatrician who blogs at The Pediatric Insider. He is also the author of Solving Health and Behavioral Problems from Birth through Preschool: A Parent’s Guide and A Guide to Getting the Best Health Care for Your Child.

 

• Matthew Toohey MD 

  This author is spot on in addressing a real problem: these mercola-type internet sites are very harmful. They have the right to free speech but we must combat what is clearly destructive and unsubstantiated ‘health’ information. These sites have found a niche and strike a nerve for a lot of people who have come to the realization that western medicine doesn’t always have a cure for what ails them.

  These sites play off this reality and work to trump up a sense of conspiracy which we as humans seem to have a weakness for.

  Some people are distrustful of major ‘government’ websites like CDC.

  On my site, I am honest about each vaccine’s effectiveness and potential side effects. I also explain why I support their use, one at a time:

  http://pediatriciannextdoor.co…

  I hope it helps
•  May Wright Along the same lines: what would be handy for people who want to try to refute anti-vaccine memes on social media (FB, Twitter, blogs) is a resource page which features some of the most popular “arguments” against vaccines, all in one place, and then has links to science-based refutations on various sites. So, for instance, it would have the meme I saw doing the rounds of Facebook this morning, that “Gardasil has killed and injured more women than the disease it’s meant to protect!!11!!”, or the one about “I’m not injecting aborted fetuses into my baby, #ProLife SAY NO TO VACCINES!!” and then a few links to credible sources of information which provide the relevant facts?

  Maybe such a page or site already exists, if so I’d love a link to it.
•  MissMeg Here are two good, government-operated sites which vaccine investigators won’t want to miss.

  The first is a CDC site that lists vaccine ingredients:
  http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pu…

  The second is the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program:
  http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecom…

Related articles

• Vaccinations, “For the Greater Good” (vaccinesforchildren.wordpress.com)
• Vaccines: how they work & why they’re important (wgno.com)
• Homecoming week offers flu vaccine for first time (digitalbullpen.com)